Page 66 of Tides and Tidings

Rose: In the pictures Blythe posted in the wee hours of the morning, she has a paper ring on. I assume she said yes and that was just a placeholder while you went out to celebrate?

Charlie: What pictures?

Rose: On Instagram.

“Oh shit.”

I started to type back a response when Blythe stood up, pulling my attention away from my message.

“What’s up?”

“I posted photos from last night.” She swiped through her post. “A lot of them.”

That explains it.

She handed over her phone to me to see. I swiped through them all, noting a paper ring on Blythe’s hand in three pictures. The caption was sweet: “The best night with my favorite guy!” Judging by our drunken smiles, we had a great time.

I handed her phone back, “It’s an innocent post. Don’t stress about it.”

“Did you read the comments?” She outstretched her phone back to me.

I shook my head. She motioned for me to take the phone from her again.

“Mom and Dad finally had a night out!”

“Blythe has let loose tonight!”

“Y’all are so freakin’ cute.”

“Is that an engagement ring?”

That comment grabbed my attention. Now I understood what Rose was talking about. Does Blythe remember why she had that paper tied around her finger?

“You posted pictures. It’s fine.” I tried to calm her down because she was about to spiral downward for ‘not being professional.’ She ran a popular book account and wanted to keep it professional, but she drunk-posted. “Look at the engagement on these pictures! People love seeing the real you and not the perfectly curated feed.”

She shrugged, “I guess.” She scrolled through the photos again. “Do you know why I have a piece of paper tied to my finger?”

“I have no idea.”

“It was probably some silly joke we came up with.”

I swallowed hard, “Yeah, probably a joke.”

All I could think about was how last night was supposed to be when I asked her to marry me, and the stupid restaurant had to be closed. Don’t get me wrong, we looked like we had a great time from the photos on Blythe’s phone, but we were supposed to be going home engaged.

Blythe went to the bathroom to get ready to leave, and I got out of bed and replied to Rose.

Charlie: We just saw the pictures. The restaurant shut down earlier in the week and never called to let me know. The engagement didn’t happen.

Rose: NO! This is the worst news possible. Are you going to try again?

Charlie: Absolutely. The time just needs to be right.

Rose: Did you ask her to marry you with a damn paper ring last night?

Charlie: Of course not.

Something about the way she asked the question made all of last night’s memories come rushing back. I remembered the key events. Being hit on by the bartenders. Dancing with Blythe. Asking her to marry me with a paper ring…